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Abstract:

A communication device and method for selectively accessing remote
sources of information and services on the Web through a communication
network.

Claims:

1. A communication device connectable to remote sources of information or
services through a communication network comprising a display, data
storage, a processor, a controller and a plurality of icons locally
stored in said data storage and selectively displayed on said display,
wherein said plurality of icons includes one or more direct access icons,
each of which is capable of being selectively activated to connect said
communication device to a predetermined one of said remote sources of
information or services, and one or more selection icons, each of which
is capable of being selectively activated to display one or more
additional selection or direct access icons on said display.

2. A communication device according to claim 1, wherein activation of a
direct access icon comprises emitting on the communication network an
address corresponding to a predetermined one of said remote sources of
information or services.

3. A communication device according to claim 2, wherein said address is
locally stored in said data storage or locally generated by said
processor.

4. A communication device according to claim 1, further comprising at
least one selection page including at least one direct access icon and at
least one selection icon.

5. A communication device according to claim 4, comprising a sequentially
accessible plurality of selection pages, wherein each sequentially
accessed selection page displays information corresponding to a
sub-category of at least one prior selection page.

6. A communication device according to claim 1, wherein said
communication network is the internet.

7. A communication device according to claim 6, wherein said connection
to said communication network is cellular.

8. A communication device according to claim 1, wherein said controller
and processor are configured and arranged so as to receive from a server
data for updating information associated with a selection page, a direct
access icon and/or a selection icon.

Description:

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a divisional of copending application serial
number: 10/169,355 filed on Nov. 5, 2002; which is the 35 U.S.C. 371
national stage of International application PCT/FRO0/03759 filed on Dec.
29, 2000; which claims priority to French application 9916704 filed on
Dec. 20, 1999. The entire contents of each of the above-identified
applications are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a method for accessing information
sources and services on the Web. It also relates to a device for
implementing said method.

[0003] The use of Internet and the Web for accessing information and
sources of every kind is presently drastically increasing. To permit
access to Web sites providing said information and services, navigation
software like Internet Explorer® or Navigator® have been widely
diffused and nowadays equip every personal computer and workstation
connected to Internet. These navigation software permit access to sites
providing with search engines like Yahoo!® or Voila® allowing to
emit requests in natural language and to receive in return a plurality of
sites classified by decreasing relevance order. Furthermore, "portal"
sites are presently developing, with a generalist or specialised
objective, the function of which is proposing to a user on one hand
direct accesses to some pre-selected sites and on the other hand accesses
to headings. The choices of a site or of a heading are represented either
by a designation or by an icon or a fixed or animated image. Pointing and
clicking by means of a mouse on the corresponding active zone causes
generating by the navigation software a Web address on Internet,
permitting access to selected site, and within said site, to a document
or a plurality of searched documents. In fact, in response to such a
request, the requesting station can receive either directly a document,
or usually a new HTML page containing itself a more and less high number
of links among which the user will still have to make a new choice.

[0004] Now, a delay corresponds to each request-answer step, with a
variable duration conditioned by non-controllable parameters like traffic
on the network, jamming and power of servers in the consulted sites or
also the memory size of the received pages. It results in a real
discomfort felt by a number of Internet surfers, so far as to dissuade
some of them from launching an information search that could prove to be
long, tedious, and uncertain.

[0005] Furthermore, in addition to the above-cited problem of response
time and search duration, the question of providing users that are not
accustomed to computer tolls and Internet with a quick and easy access to
information sources and services, also arises, while said quick and easy
access is not properly provided by the generalist portals presently
available on the Web.

[0006] Document EP0847019 discloses a method for selecting an item of
information in an information processing system, wherein a user is
provided with an access to two items of information through respectively
two structures of multi-levels hierarchical menus. The second structure
of menu comprises at least the sub-menus provided in the first structure
of menu and the second sub-assembly includes at least the items of
information included in the first sub-assembly. A user leaving the first
structure of menu in a particular sub-menu enters the second structure of
menu in a sub-menu that corresponds to this particular sub-menu.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The aim of the invention is to propose a method for accessing
information sources and services on the Web, that is quicker and easier
to use than the present methods for accessing information on Internet,
notably with a objective of integration within interactive terminals and
office automation and communication equipments.

[0008] This objective is reached with a method for accessing information
sources and services on the Web, from a communication device connected
through a communication network to the Internet network, comprising:
[0009] one or more steps for displaying a page of selection among a
plurality of selection pages organized within a structure of tree menu
and beforehand locally stored within said communication device, each page
of selection comprising a set of icons and, [0010] a step for emitting on
the communication network, in response to a selection of an icon in a
page of selection currently displayed, the address of a source of
information corresponding to said selected icon.

[0011] According to the invention, for each selection page, the set of
icons includes one or more icons for directly accessing remote sources of
information and/or one or more selection icons for locally accessing
another selection page within said structure of tree menu, said addresses
of information sources corresponding to direct access icons being
beforehand locally stored in a table or base of addresses or locally
generated in the progress of the display and selection steps.

[0012] Thus, by locally implementing preliminary selection steps in pages
organized in a tree manner and operating as rolling menus, and by finally
emitting on Internet only a complete address for accessing a
well-targeted information source, the mean time duration observed for
accessing searched information is drastically reduced. Besides, this
method provides users poorly accustomed with computer tools and search
engines with an efficient guiding to most of the useful information
sources or to the most frequently consulted information sources.

[0013] These direct access icons can advantageously comprise icons for
accessing merchant sites. This feature for example opens the way to
customizing, with the colours of a commercial group, the access tool
obtained by implementing the method according to the invention. These
icons for directly accessing a merchant or institutional site can
reproduce the logotype of this site.

[0014] The selection icons preferably include an item or thematic title
opening an access to a page dedicated to a given activity or theme, and
present graphic features that are distinctive from those of the direct
access icons. The user is thus informed about the nature of the step that
follows his selection. If is an icon with the "direct access icon" type,
the next step will be a step for emitting an address towards a Web site.
On the contrary, if it is an icon with the "selection icon" type, the
next step will be a new selection step in a selection page.

[0015] The access method according to the invention can be advantageously
provided for further comprising an updating of the plurality of selection
pages locally stored. This updating can be achieved by downloading from a
management server programmed for achieving this operation on a plurality
of access devices or terminals implementing this method.

[0016] Furthermore, it is particularly advantageous to plan in the welcome
page icons for selecting a consulting language among a plurality of
proposed languages, for example under the form of flags for States
wherein each proposed language is used. For that, several sets of
selection pages beforehand stored each corresponding to a proposed
language will be provided. This linguistic functionality represents
another important advantage for the process according to the invention,
since a user can thus locally achieve, in the language according to his
choice, a preliminary search in the different themes, sub-themes or
sub-categories, while in the conventional situation of a direct search on
the Web, the same user would inevitably be confronted to the linguistic
bar at one point or another.

[0017] According to another aspect of the invention, a device is proposed
for accessing information sources or services on the

[0018] Web, comprising means for communicating through a communication
network on Internet, control and processing means, data storage means,
display means, capture means, and pointing and selection means, said
storage means containing a plurality of selection pages each comprising a
set of icons.

[0019] This device is characterized in that, for each selection page, the
set of icons includes one or more icons for directly accessing remote
information sources and/or one or more selection icons for locally
accessing another selection page within said structure of tree menu,
[0020] and in that the control and processing means are programmed for:
[0021] controlling the display by said display means of a selection page
in response to activating a selection icon provided for locally accessing
another selection page within said structure of tree menu, and [0022]
emitting on the communication network, in response to selecting a direct
access icon in a selection page being currently displayed, an address of
the information source corresponding to said selected direct access icon,
said addresses of information sources corresponding to direct access
icons being beforehand locally stored in table or base of addresses or
locally generated in the progress of display and selection steps.

[0023] This device can be realized from a personal computer, a work
station or from a network terminal, or can be installed within an
apparatus dedicated to functions for accessing information sources and
services on the Web. For example, it can be an Internet interactive
terminal or an office automation and communication equipment installed
either in a public booth in substitution of an existing phone device, or
in places or public spaces or in private places or for a professional
use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent in
the further description. The attached drawings are given as way of non
limitative examples:

[0025] FIG. 1 is a synoptic scheme featuring the essential steps of the
method according to the invention;

[0026] FIG. 2 features the mechanism for accessing on a tree mode the
address of a searched information, implemented in the method according to
the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Now, with reference to FIG. 1, an example of use of the access
method according to the invention, implemented in an Internet terminal or
in an office automation and communication apparatus, is described.

[0031] This first page Po constitutes the trunk of a tree structure
schematically represented in FIG. 2 for the whole screen-pages locally
stored in a storage unit, for example a hard disk unit or a CD-ROM, of
the apparatus wherein this method is implemented.

[0032] If the user of the apparatus points on the icon of theme TH1, for
example the SPORT theme, and clicks on this icon, a page P1 dedicated to
the SPORT theme is then displayed. This page P1 contains for example:
[0033] an icon Lox for accessing a site dedicated to a plurality of
sports and an icon Loy for accessing a site of a major soccer club,
[0034] an icon AD11 "calendar" for directly accessing a weekly calendar
of sport events provided on the above-cited multi-sport site, [0035] an
icon AD12 "1st division games" for directly accessing to a document
presenting the next matches of the 1st division of soccer and
provided by the official site of the soccer federation, [0036] icons
ST11, ST12, ST13 , . . . , ST1i,. . . , ST1j for selecting sub-categories
or sub-themes, and [0037] an icon "Return" permitting to come back to
initial page Po.

[0038] For example, it is assumed that the user of the consultation
apparatus wherein the method according to the invention is implemented
wishes to get the address and contact data of a club of supporters for a
major basket ball team, with the intention of acquiring a shirt with the
colours of this club and possibly booking places for the next
championship final.

[0039] This user, after having selected the "SPORT" theme TH1 in the page
Po, is naturally led to select the sub-theme ST1i "COLLECTIVE SPORTS",
then, after a certain number of consulted pages, the user reaches a page
Pn-m dedicated to the basketball championship. This page contains for
example: [0040] an icon LOz for accessing the official site of the
basketball championship, [0041] an icon ADn1 for directly accessing the
site of a rival team, [0042] an icon ADn2 for directly accessing the site
of the Club of supporters for the searched team, [0043] icons ADn1, ADnj,
ADnk for directly accessing other information sources linked to the
basket-ball championship, and [0044] icons STn1, STn2 corresponding to
sub-themes like

[0045] "Training" or "Transfers".

[0046] Then the user selects the icon ADn2 "Club of supporters" and the
activation of this icon causes generating (II) the complete address of
the welcome page for this site, given as a way of non-limitative example:
http://site.com/--/--/--/--.htm

[0047] This address is then emitted (III) on the Web through the
communication network to which the apparatus is connected, towards the
concerned sire which, in return, sends a welcome page which is received
(V) and displayed by the user who is the able to consult the searched
information and achieve the desired order.

[0048] Thus the user has been able to access without any difficulty the
information source being searched with a single request-answer sequence,
the whole operations for selecting themes and sub-themes having been
beforehand locally realized by means of the method according to the
invention.

[0049] It has to be noted that the different consulted pages can
advantageously include icons for accessing one or more search engines for
permitting the user to take again as he likes the control of his searches
on the Web.

[0050] Each selection page can also include usual consultation commands
such as "WELCOME PAGE", "PRINT", "PREVIOUS PAGE", "NEXT PAGE", "END OF
SESSION", "HELP". Moreover, especially when the method according to the
invention is implemented in an office automation and communication
apparatus, commands for office automation functions such as "PHOTOCOPY",
"FACSIMILE", "E-MAIL" or "VISIO-CONFERENCE" can also be proposed.

[0051] Furthermore, it is easy to conceive a process for downloading,
periodically or on demand, an updating of a set of pages used in the
method according to the invention, from a management server towards a
plurality of office automation and communication apparatuses wherein this
method is implemented.

[0052] Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples that have
been described and numerous adjustments can be provided to these examples
without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, the numbers of
selection pages and of selection or direct access icons are of course not
limited to the described examples. It is the same for the shape and the
design of these icons that can be fixed or dynamic. Besides, the method
according to the invention can be implemented in every fixed or mobile
equipment that permits to access resources on Internet. In particular,
the access method according to the invention can be implemented in mobile
phone equipments of in electronic personal digital assistants including a
function for accessing Internet.

Patent applications by Férid Allani, Kelibia TN

Patent applications in class Network resource browsing or navigating

Patent applications in all subclasses Network resource browsing or navigating